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Making Christmas deaf-friendly

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We have tips to help deaf children and young people feel included at Christmas

Times of celebration and get-togethers with friends and family can be a difficult time for deaf children and young people. Whether it’s Christmas, a birthday, wedding or any other festivity, children can find themselves feeling left out. They may also be spending time with people who aren’t very deaf aware in noisy and busy situations.

So, we’ve put together some top tips to help you make deaf children and young people feel included at Christmas time. You may want to share these with family, friends, teachers, youth club workers, or anyone else who’ll be spending time with your child during the festive season.

Make sure the subtitles are set up on the TV before watching a film together.

If you want to take a family trip to see a pantomime or festive film call the venue in advance to check what equipment they have (room loop, headphones etc.) to help your child access the performance.

On Christmas day, or at a gathering or party, give the child a role, like handing out sweets or giving out presents.

When calling friends and relatives on Christmas day, consider video-calling using Skype or Facetime so that the deaf child can join in too.

In the lead up to Christmas when there’ll be changes to regular routines – concerts, meals out, visiting friends – make sure you let your child know what will happen in advance.

Games are a great way to include deaf children at Christmas – just make sure they don’t rely too heavily on sound or listening. Quizzes presented in a written or visual format or board games work well.

Beards make lip-reading very difficult for deaf children as they can’t see the lip patterns clearly so a trip to see Father Christmas might not impress a deaf child as much as you’d hoped. Have a quiet word with the manager of the venue and see if adjustments can be made to help your child, such as Father Christmas wearing a smaller or tidier beard.